(NewsNation) — On Independence Day, people can see a piece of American history up close as the National Archives lets people get a rare look at some of the founding fathers’ oldest documents.
The original Declaration of Independence is a permanent exhibit at the museum, but this weekend, they’re opening the vault and showing off some historic documents, including an original first edition printing of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the June 1776 Lee resolution, which called for the colony’s independence from Great Britain.
Though we celebrate our independence on July 4, the history is a bit more complicated.
By the time July 1776 rolls around, we’ve already been fighting for over a year, so the declaration wasn’t the starting point. “It sort of came in the middle, ” said historian Jessie Kratz. “So we want to show people how important it was that we got there. How did we get to July 4? And then, more importantly, how did we get to August 2, which is the day that the Declaration of Independence was actually signed.”
One of the amazing documents included is the vote tally of the Lee resolution. This took place on July 2, when 12 of the 13 Colonies voted for their independence. The 13th, New York just hadn’t voted yet.
Some founders thought July 2 would be Independence Day, but it was on the fourth that the final text of the declaration was approved.
The archive says the goal is to educate people about American democracy and our history.
“I think that the fact that we’ll have a lot of visitors seeing this document and be able to understand more about the Declaration of Independence and hopefully go share it with their friends and family. We did put a QR code on the exhibit as well, so you don’t actually have to be here to see that exhibit,” Kratz said. “You can go online and to our website and see the documents and see the explanations of them as well.
The documents will be on display in the rotunda right by the declaration and today will be one of the busiest days for the National Archives, with the exhibition open through Sunday.